Too Much of Anything Is not Good For You

Just about everywhere you go, you see advertisements and commercials for all different kinds of drinks. These drinks range from coffee, milk, soda, diet soda, iced tea, you name it, they are all out there, claiming to have some kind of benefit to your life by including them. Of course, with any of these drinks listed above, it is very possible to overdo it, because a decent amount of them are fairly addictive. Once someone has finally been put in the hospital or some other crazy event because of excessive consumption of one of these products, there is always that one commercial which preaches the importance of water, and how it could save your life by adding more into your diet. However, that leaves us with the question, is there such a thing as too much water?

The answer is yes. You can certainly drink too much water. Some of you may be wondering, “How can that be possible? The more water we drink, the more hydrated we are. Is hydration not good for you?” The answer to that is yes as well. However, there is such a thing as over hydration. What happens during over hydration? Well, for starters, your pee turns extremely clear, you start getting headaches, you start feeling dizzy, and many other bad things begin happening.

There are probably more things you are wondering about in terms of over hydration, such as how much water it takes to achieve such a state. In my opinion, I do not think that anyone who lives the average everyday lifestyle should worry about it. I mean, yes it is true that drinking too much water can kill you, but the quantity you would have to drink is absolutely absurd, and a lot of people would not even be able to stomach that much water daily. The amount of water that someone would have to drink to become overly hydrated depends on the individual. For example, if you are a construction who is working in the hot sun all day or an athlete who spends a lot of time training outside in the sun, you are losing water due to sweating and expending energy for long periods of time. Of course this depends on the size of the individual as well, since bigger people need to drink more water, but I am going to go ahead and ball park this. If you are one of these people, drinking even as much as nine liters daily will probably be harmless for you, so long as you are drinking something else to replenish your electrolytes and sodium levels. The absence of these nutrients along with the excessive water in someone’s body is the lethal combination where too much water is able to kill. Okay, what if you are not an athlete or manual labor worker? What if you are in an office chair behind a desk all day? You people obviously need less water. Drinking something in excess of five liters is probably overkill for you.

Moving on, over here I will explain in a little more detail why I believe that over hydration should not be a worry for people. The truth is, most people walk around, go to sleep, and exercise daily all while being dehydrated. Do not believe me? Well, I will analyze a few things for you. For instance, think about the amount of water you drink daily, whether it is one liter, two, liters or whatever it may be. Now think about how many times you urinate daily, and how much comes out each time you go. On that note, when you do go to the washroom, think about what color your urine is. Unless you are taking a supplement that makes this happen, if your urine is a dark or vibrant yellow, it more than likely means you are dehydrated. Anyway, moving past that, think about how much urine comes out and subtract it each time from the total water you drink for the day. Now, think about the amount of functions your body needs water in order to do, urination, proper cognitive functions, keeping your muscles hydrated, and keeping your skin from drying up just being a few things that come to mind off the top of my head. Still not convinced? Well then, I am now going to hit you with something I know happens to everyone at some point in their lives. You know those days when you get headaches and you take just about every medication in your cupboard, and then go to your local pharmacy to buy something else because none of those other things have worked? And then after that you end up going to a doctor because you are worried? What do you think the answer to this problem is? If I have not made it painfully obvious by now, the answer is water. That is right, water can stop these frequent headaches you are having due to dehydration.

This little section right here at the end is for that lazy person who may have gotten a little sleepy and lost during this rather lost piece I have written. Do you need to drink water? Yes. For the general population, I would recommend you drink about three and a half to five liters a day to stay hydrated. Hold on a minute, I can hear you already. “Three and a half liters? That is a five hundred milliliter bottle filled up seven times! That is crazy! How on earth do I drink that much water daily?! The answer is simple, get a bigger water bottle. If you get a water bottle that is about a liter or eight hundred milliliters, then you only need to fill it up three or four times a day. Not nearly as bad is it? So there you have it, drink your water, stay hydrated, and do not be stupid about it!

About Kerry Dennison

Kerry is a person who enjoys writing & storytelling. When he's not writing, you can either find him playing Mario Kart wii with his friends or spending time in the gym, as gaming and powerlifting are other hobbies of his.
Contact Kerry: kerry.dennison@youthindependent.com